


no scurvy of the bone

by joouheika



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-15
Updated: 2013-07-15
Packaged: 2017-12-20 05:54:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/883714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joouheika/pseuds/joouheika
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Levi is surprisingly tolerant of Eren's germs.</p>
            </blockquote>





	no scurvy of the bone

When Eren wakes up the sun is in his eyes.

The hands that draw the curtains close belong not to Mikasa, not to Armin, not to Hanji and not even to Jean.

But they are not unfamiliar hands. 

This room is unfamiliar. There are no windows in the dungeon. So it’s very odd that sunlight had been in his face. He’s thirsty. His body aches and his head hurts. He feels hot and it’s hard to move.

The owner of the hands that’d closed the curtains slowly walks over to loom over him, peering down on his feverish face. Eren’s vision focuses enough for him to register it’s the Corporal who he’s looking at.

The blankets are heavy on him and it being so very hot, he shifts uncomfortably beneath them in this unfamiliar room.

Corporal Levi leaves. 

His footsteps quiet as he goes into a room adjacent- returning with a small bowl of water that he puts on the night stand. He wrings out a wash towel in it, the towel blindingly white, absolutely clean.

He places the moist towel over Eren’s sweaty brow.

It’s cool, it feels good.

His mother and Mikasa have done this for him before when he’d been sick as a child.

Eren tries to ask for water, but the blankets are pulled up to his mouth, and if he feels this crappy he’s bound to be sick and he doesn’t want to uncover his mouth and spread his germs to the Corporal who would certainly not have an appreciation for that.

Levi seems to understand anyway what Eren wants though it must have been a bunch of odd fidgeting to him.

He leaves again and returns with a glass of water, and slowly sitting on the bed, fingers spread over Eren’s thigh through the many layers of blankets- as he feels to avoid sitting on Eren.

It’s hard to talk and when he does speak it seems not much sound (comprehensible) comes out anyway so he’s grateful even though he can’t say much he’s understood all the same.

When he cannot push his body up (as he tries) Levi hooks an arm around his shoulders and carefully pulls him upright, even bringing the water to Eren’s lips so he can drink.

Eren tries to drink quickly but Levi controls the angle of the glass, making sure Eren drinks slowly. At this close distance Eren sees Levi has a bandanna covering his mouth, much like he wears when cleaning. Had the Corporal been cleaning? Is that why this room is so pristine?

As if he can hear these questions through glancing into Eren’s inquisitive eyes, Levi says-

“Looks like you’re feeling better and you’re not turning into a titan.”

Eren having finished drinking all the water, Levi makes a motion as to lay Eren back down. But because Eren has been lying down all this time he doesn’t want to lie down again just yet. Levi allows him to rest his head on his shoulder.

As Eren awakens further he notices Levi is also wearing gloves.

It’s really not unusual…

“Eren.”

Eren listens attentively, looking over at Levi who is looking back at him, and is told- Levi’s voice leveled, nothing unusual here either.

“You are ill. Hanji thinks it’s a type of cold that only affects shifters but she’s still investigating it. For now we’ve quarantined you to my quarters.”

The place Levi is in most control of, the place Levi has kept clean to his maximum abilities.

While it is Levi’s duty to begin with to watch over Eren, Hanji and he agreed he is the best for the job anyway since he is the most cautious about germs. A virus, a disease, all sorts of means that lead to death all from being filthy, no one is better prepared against it than Levi. Why this is so, might it be from experiences earlier in his life long ago- what Levi has learned-

If there is no order there is no means to survival.

Eren nods, “Thank you very much, Corporal Levi.”

Levi sets the empty glass down on the night stand.

“It’s hardly believable that _anything_ can recover down in that cold as fuck dungeon.”

Eren doesn’t remember how sick he’d been before, doesn’t even remember being sick, apparently he’d been asleep for almost a week after a week before of coughing and general misery. Sleeping for a week is not uncommon for him to do but because he’s always done so due to shifting into a titan, the fact that he’d slept for a week over something else was a wholly different matter acceptable of worry apparently.

He can see it concerns Levi.

Considering he’s here sleeping in his room, in the cleanest warmest sheets.

And continues to do so, given a very tall set of napkins when it’s time to eat (Corporal covers basically any angle that could be spilled upon and takes to feeding Eren himself until it is many days later he deems Eren strong enough to use a spoon), he helps him to the restroom and helps him bathe (which is frequent) and when Eren is well enough to walk about the room and is making the bed-

Hanji comes to check up on him.

Or so is her intent.

Before she comes through the door he is struck, hard, against the back.

Doubled over in pain on the bed, he cannot speak.

Hanji stops mid yelled greeting (door swung open) when she sees Eren collapsed over the bed and attempts to go to him to see what could have happened when he’d been making such good process- Levi intercepts her and convinces her-

“Unfortunately he’s had a relapse, won’t you let me handle this?”

And helping Eren back under the blankets with gloved hands.

Hanji promises to come tomorrow after Eren has had a good night’s sleep (she won’t disturb him after Levi has tucked him in so nicely, so tightly) and Levi, peeling the gloves off and setting them aside on the nightstand when the door is slammed shut as quickly as it’d been opened-

Eren having found his voice back and very aware of his throbbing, no doubt bruising back is-

“Why did you do that Corporal?!”

Levi doesn’t look at all bothered by what he just did.

“Not so loud. Or would you like to return to the dungeon and have an actual relapse?”

Eren hushes, drawing the blankets up around him.

“You could have warned me beforehand…”

Levi sighs, closing his eyes. He looks like he has a headache the dimensions of Wall Maria.

“Are you really fucking sulking? Shall I let you experience the full extent of my kick once more?”

Considering that wasn’t it.

Convincing a courtroom of people…

Eren yelps most indignantly when Levi rips the blankets back and flipping Eren over who isn’t sure if he should apologise or just grit his teeth and bear it again- startled as Levi pulls off his shirt, unable to not jump when Levi settles his cool fingers on his throbbing back, the bruise is dark now. Levi runs his fingers over it, down the rest of Eren’s spine.

“I suppose for this I _did_ over do it.”

Eren looks over his shoulder.

Eren sees Levi lean forward, a hand splayed half over part of his hip and the small of his back, sees him lean to press a soft kiss to the spot he’d struck- feels Corporal’s lips on his skin-

“W-w-w-what are you doing?!”

Levi rests his head there, lips still half against Eren’s skin as Eren feels his breath- “Aren’t kisses to you children what heals an infliction instantly?”

He kisses there some more, mouthing against it no language Eren knows, perhaps it is no language to begin with, all he knows is if Levi keeps doing what he’s doing Eren is going to have a problem, a really big and hard problem.

Levi grips Eren’s hips, holding him in place as the younger tries to wriggle away, Eren half turning and then stopping the motion when he realises rolling onto his back with Levi hanging over him like this is probably the last thing he wants to do and the last thing he’ll ever do.

Eren let’s Levi do as he likes. His touch gentle even without contrasting comparison to before, given how he’d handled Eren these past weeks- Eren doesn’t mind it at all, doesn’t mind it either way is the thing.

Eren has a problem.

It’s going to be an issue if Levi keeps insisting that the wound he inflicted is not only on that spot on Eren’s back any more but above it, on his shoulder blade and the other, the space between them, top of a shoulder, the side of his neck-

Eren jerks back, his back slick against Levi’s chest, his ass against his thighs. He can not only hear but feel Corporal’s heartbeat.

The curtains are still open. Eren wonders if that’ll be a problem, but if Corporal hasn’t paid them any mind then Eren supposes they really aren’t. His voice is a half whisper, not sure if the heat he feels now is returned fever or a newly kindled one-

“Won’t you catch my cold?” Eren asks as Levi cups the side of his face to draw it closer to his than it already is.

“There’s a risk,” Levi replies as he presses his body into Eren’s and rolling his hips which are atop Eren’s back, Eren’s hips grind into the mattress. Eren gives a high whine.

Levi continues-

“I’m willing to take it.”

\--

In the dining room.

Eren having finally recovered and able to eat with everyone else, they’re about to escort him back to the dungeon for the night when Petra notes-

“Corporal Levi you’re looking a little… flushed. Are you not feeling well?”

Everyone is silent.

At her question.

And then when they receive an answer-

“You are correct Petra. I’m not.”

Absolute horror.

Never has, never was it even thought possible-

“D-did you catch Eren’s cold sir?”

Levi nods, a hand at his brow, head bent.

Hanji gives a whoop from the other end of the table, whatever papers she’d been scribbling on tossed aside momentarily.

“So it was just a normal cold after all!”

Levi is scowling at her, and even ill or because he is ill the murderous intent behind it is on a scale they’d not even witnessed against the titans.

“Shitty. Glasses. Wasn’t it your job to figure that out _when Eren was ill_ -”

Hanji is cleaning her glasses not even looking at him, a person who wasn’t from this group wouldn’t even think she is listening to him. 

“Well yeah~ but I figured the easiest way to see if it was a regular cold or not was to see if you’d get it and since you got it! My job is over right?”

The rest of the squad is gaping at her.

In other words because the cold wasn’t related to titans she really doesn’t give a shit.

Petra sputters. Auruo looks downright horrified. Guther would have run out the door if Mike hadn’t been blocking the way having come in rather late for dinner.

The fact that Corporal, neat freak, humanity’s strongest soldier Levi had gotten ill and ill enough to admit so to them- _anyone_ \- is…

They all rush him to his room (via much begging and borderline crying loudly behind him until he finally starts to move, slowly ascending the stairs). The lot of them carefully lingering by his doorway not daring to set a foot in even in normal circumstances and the anxiety soothed only when Levi is sitting in his bed, the blankets over his knees, irritated beyond reason, especially when Erwin comes in with a cup of hot milk for him. Petra is advising against it since Levi has a cold but their Corporal and Commander are in their own little world as Levi gives Erwin a prediction of how long he’s going to feel like shit.

“You brought a bigger cup than usual…”

Is what they’re overhearing.

After Erwin leaves, expression not especially concerned, calming them since if Commander isn’t too worried and this is the Corporal. While it is scary that he’d caught a cold, it is… just a cold right?

They’re about to leave, all of them when-

“Wait.”

Levi’s voice stops them dead in their tracks.

All of them visibly relaxing except one as they hear-

“Where do you think you’re going _Eren_?”

Eren turns 180 degrees, instantly melding to attention in one swift motion.

“The dungeon sir!”

Levi scoffs.

“The fuck you are. You’re the only one here who’s built immunity to this fucking cold since you’re the goddamn carrier. Come here.”

Once Eren enters the room he’s told to close the door and sit on the bed. 

Heat rises to his face on remembering the last time he’d been on this bed-

Levi nudges him with the cup he’d been drinking from.

“There’s too much for one person.”

As Eren drinks, expression surprised at what the drink is-

Levi continues speaking, the scowl from earlier half of what it’d been before.

“You won’t get sick anymore.”

Eren downs the rest of the milk.

It isn’t often they have it.

Eren wipes his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Yes sir!”


End file.
